Twin Atlantic: Nothing to prove

Dawn Renton

Every band worth their salt will eventually find themselves at a crossroads. Once you have achieved all that you can within the band, what next? Where do you go? You go home.

For Twin Atlantic, their moment arrived in 2015. The band were at their peak and enjoying the greatest success of their career. Eight short years after they formed, seven years after their breakthrough EP, A Guidance from Colour hit the charts, were they really going to call it a day?

“We were doing these big sell-out stadium gigs that in a way felt like an ending,” reflected singer/songwriter Sam McTrusty. “There was nowhere else for the band to go as we felt that we had reached the peak and everything just felt done. We felt like we had become the best version of the band.”

But, thankfully, the Twin Atlantic story doesn’t end there.

The Glasgow four-piece return with a stonking new album GLA released this week (September 9) and a trio of gigs in their home town.

“We wanted to write an album that captured what it was like to come from one of the most amazing cities in the world,” said Sam, talking about the album.

“We felt it was time to be real to who we are as individuals and as a band – cut through all the crap and just make a really decent record.

“The sound is still very much Twin Atlantic but we were inspired by classic rock guitar riffs. We wanted to make our own version of the sound. We want to give some power back to good old rock and roll and with this album, I hope that we have managed to accomplish that. We have everything to lose and nothing to prove – that’s a pretty exciting creative place to be for any band.”

The songs are personal and come straight from the heart in a way that the band never really delivered before.

“It’s dark but not too weird and gothy,” said Sam. “It’s empathy and release. It’s Glasgow. We come from a city that’s sympathetic to the trouble that people have and that’s a common thread that runs throughout the whole album. It’s hard to describe the songwriting process that we go through.

“We don’t sit knee to knee writing songs but we have bits and pieces that we all put in and somehow we come up with songs that are good enough to make an album out of.”

GLA defines the band. It is the band.

“You can’t get more real than Glasgow,” Sam states. “It’s a city infamous for rivalry and danger, for passion and fear, love and warmth. We have finally made the album that we have alway wanted to make.”

Having finished a two month-long tour across Europe and the UK, the band are taking a breather before heading back on the road this autumn.

“We love touring,” Sam said. “We would kinda be in the wrong job if we didn’t to be honest! We have three gigs coming up at the Barrowlands in December and we are really looking forward to them more so than any other on this leg of the tour.

“Playing your hometown is always special. This is when your friends, family, everyone that is close to you will come out and see you play. It just makes it all that more special and atmospheric. They are going to be cracking shows – bloody cracking!”

‘GLA’ is out now.

The band play Glasgow Barrowlands December 13-15.

For tickets and to order your copy of the new album, visit https://www.twinatlantic.com.